The growing partnership between IHG Hotels & Resorts and the Pelligra Group has accelerated today with an Adelaide ground-breaking ceremony marking the announcement of the signing of Holiday Inn & Suites Mawson Lakes.

Heralding ambitious growth plans for the partnership, the two groups announced the signing of the new-build hotel on the eve of the Australia’s Australasian Hotel Industry Conference and Exhibition (AHICE), which is also being held in Adelaide for the second consecutive year.

To mark the occasion, and to signal the great progress already being made, the Mawson Lakes project was officially unveiled at a ground-breaking ceremony in Adelaide, attended by SA Premier Peter Malinauskas, City of Salisbury Mayor Gillian Aldridge, hotel owner Ross Pelligra, IHG’s CEO EMEAA, Kenneth Macpherson, and SVP Managing Director - Japan, Australasia and Pacific, Leanne Harwood, as well other dignitaries in attendance.

Holiday Inn & Suites Mawson Lakes, which is owned by a joint venture between the Pelligra Group and Bruno Muscatello, is due to open in 2024. Located in Adelaide’s northern suburbs, just 20 mins from the CBD, the 130-room hotel will feature all the Holiday Inn brand hallmarks, including an Open Lobby, as well as all-day dining restaurant and lobby bar, conferencing facilities and gymnasium.

With six hotels now open or signed, the Pelligra Group is one of IHG’s largest partners in Australasia, and there are ambitions to grow the partnership significantly. Already the Group, along with its joint venture partners, has welcomed the brand-new Holiday Inn Werribee in 2021, boasting Australia’s first Open Lobby, and took on the Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport lease in 2019, with plans to completely refurbish the property to bring it to world-class Holiday Inn standard. By the end of 2023, it will also open Holiday Inn Melbourne Richmond, Crowne Plaza Melbourne Carlton and Holiday Inn Dandenong. 

Ross Pelligra, CEO of Pelligra Group, stated this deal signing was just the start of a string of new hotel developments the group plans to announce with IHG. Today’s ground breaking is proof that our industry is powering ahead and we have huge confidence in the future of hotels in Australia. We are so proud to be growing with IHG Hotels & Resorts, in fact in just five years we signed six amazing hotels, with two already open. And I don’t see it stopping there, we would love to add another 20-30 hotels across IHG’s brand portfolio in the future, so I can only say: get ready for more to come”.

Leanne Harwood, SVP Managing Director Japan, Australasia and Pacific, commented “Being here today, announcing a state-of-the-art, new-build hotel with one of our great partners, Ross Pelligra, is incredible and a true testament to the trust and strength of our relationship. We have a shared vision of creating world-class, cutting-edge hotels and the Pelligra Group clearly has an affinity for our brands, and we would love to grow that together. It is an honour to be here today alongside Ross and his team and to be building on these foundations that we have built, together.

“What’s also incredibly pleasing is to be here in Adelaide, building on the stellar hotel portfolio IHG already has in this fantastic city. Holiday Inn & Suites Mawson Lakes will perfectly complement our existing hotels: InterContinental Adelaide, Crowne Plaza Adelaide, Hotel Indigo Adelaide and Holiday Inn Express Adelaide City Centre. We look forward to continuing to work with the local community and see the hotel take shape in the coming months”.

The hotel will be located adjacent to the University of South Australia Mawson Lakes campus, Mawson Central Shopping Centre and the Parafield Airport and within close proximity to the Edinburgh RAAF Base, Lyell McEwin Hospital, several major manufacturing and logistics centres, making it a perfect base for those in town for business or leisure.

Holiday Inn & Suites Mawson Lakes will be IHG’s fifth hotel in Adelaide, making it one of Adelaide’s largest hotel operators. It complements IHGs portfolio that includes InterContinental Adelaide, Holiday Inn Express Adelaide City Centre, and the brand new Crowne Plaza Adelaide and Hotel Indigo Adelaide Markets, both of which opened in the past 18 months.

IHG has enjoyed one of its biggest years of hotel signings and openings on record over the past few years and with almost 150 open or signed hotels in Australasia alone, it is considered one of the region's leading hotel operators. 

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